Welcome to the official blog for Kylie Nic Photography. Here is where you can keep up with who i'm shooting, where i'm shooting, what's going on in my life, and all of my latest work. Hope to see you back here soon! Like what you see?
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Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Meet Little Sofie, Mom in training. I was sitting in a park in NYC
journaling one morning when a mother and daughter walked by my bench.
Sofie caught my eye as she wheeled her miniature stroller next to her
mom's full-size one.

It was just the two of them: Sofie's mother's
stroller was meant for Sofie, and Sofie wanted to be just like her mom.
The relationship between the two of them is obviously close-- it was so
touching to watch them in the park together.

Sofie spotted some squirrels and her mom gave her some goldfish to feed
them. If you've ever been in a park or on a beach when people feed
animals, the animals become even more friendly once they find out you
have food. Sofie and her mom had a great time feeding the squirrels--
adorable!

Sofie's mom Andrea was a total sweetheart, open to me photographing Sofie and telling me a bit about their family. Thanks for a lovely encounter, ladies!

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

I love modern art. It's a slight major obsession. So you can imagine how much fun I had creating and executing a 3-day NYC itinerary around NYC's premiere modern art museums.

Day 1: MOMA (where the above image was taken)
Day 2: Guggenheim
Day 3: the Met

It wasn't this simple: I actually went through each exhibit. What I like so much about modern art is the thought and intent behind it. Every movement has an ideological basis behind it. Artists are intellectuals, geniuses even. I try to absorb as much inspiration from each exhibit and movement as I can, in hopes that I can approach my own art with that sort of intent. I don't want to create simply pretty pictures- I intend for my photos to have deeper meaning, whether it's an emotional expression or connection or an ideological basis.

With my notebook in hand, I walked through the Guggenheim's Italian Futurism Exhibit, scribbling notes, thoughts and reflections as I went. Futurism appeals to be aesthetically due to its colors and geometric forms, referencing cubism and formalism. However, it goes much deeper than that. Futurists sought to place the viewer at the center of the image; they believed the viewer to be an active participant in the image. For example, in Boccioni's "The City Rises", you feel as though you are at the center of the action with the city all around you.

Or here, where you feel that you're flying with the planes:

Which leads me to another point about futurism-- its expression of dynamism + simultaneity. Artists illustrated light's movement in waves and broke down bodily movements into 2 dimensional shapes. Things occuring at two different times are now captured together through futurist techniques, as in "simultaneous self portrait".

It has an amazing ability to represent time, motion and space on a 2-dimension canvas, and was one of the first studies of how to represent just this. It has strong ties to photography, particularly stereoscopic photography + what futurists called "photodynamism". These photographs document motion over time, holding time still to capture the process motion that escapes ordinary views. It can express memories and events occuring at different points in one place through it's control over space and time. Bragaglia was at the forefront of this:

I even experimented with this without realizing its academic background. The following three images are my own:

"Ghostly Brother", Silver Gelatin Print. 2011. Kylie Nicholson.

Self Portrait. Digital Image. 2013. Kylie Nicholson.

Rhythm & Music. Silver Gelatin Print. 2010. Kylie Nicholson.

Journey of a Friend. Digital Image. 2010. Kylie Nicholson.

With these tools, futurism successfully captures psychological experience, such as in Boccioni's "States of Mind". These images are an exploration of the psychological landscape of leaving a love at the train station. They produce a visceral reaction in the viewer, both emotionally and mentally. I love images that make you think AND feel.

Which led me to reflections on space, time, and the truth of reality. [a journal entry I wrote- coming soon]

Another example: Russdo breaks down the visual and mental landscape of standing in fog, in "Solidity of Fog". We don't normally view fog as something solid, but when you represent it geometrically, it becomes both a physical and mental cloud, even barrier.

I really enjoyed the visual quality of Bendetta's "Speeding Motorboat":

I also appreciated the intent behind Balla's color and geometric shape studies, which were inspired by scientific research on color and vision. Severini explored color, light, and perception in "Spherical Expansion of Light", featuring multicolored geometry in a pointillist and cubist style. I'm all about pointillism due to its relation to digital imaging. Read about my research and thoughts on that in my last nerd post and in my summer research journal.

Alright, enough art nerding for one day. Did this catch your interest? Let's chat modern art!

Monday, July 21, 2014

What's my first stop once I disembark my bus to NYC? Starbucks, of course. The great thing about midtown is that you're never more than a block from Starbs. After photographing Maddie and saying goodbye, I went to get a caffeine hit.

Confession: I love a nicely dressed gentleman- preferably European. So when I spotted Guillaume a few spots ahead of me in line, I took note of his dapper style: tan pants, a nice patterned shirt, a leather satchel bag, socks and dress shoes. He looked stylish, intellectual, and European. If you know me at all, you know I'm a huge intellectual nerd (I love books and philosophy) and I left my heart at Cambridge University last summer. I wanted to be his friend. I ended up sitting next to him at the tables, where he was working on coursework. My curiosity got the best of me. "Excuse me", I asked him, "could I ask what you're working on?" He displayed his Arab studies book and explained he was writing a paper on Arab jews.

Guillaume is a student at NYU Abu Dhabi double majoring in Arab studies and Theatre. Originally from Canada, he spent two years in Britian before heading to Abu Dhabi. He's studying at the New York campus for the summer, and will end up at Tisch (NYU's performing arts school in New York) for the latter part of his degree.

Guillaume, thanks for sparing a few moments to chat with me. I wish you all the best in your studies & travels.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Life is beautiful. It's so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle, charging from one goal to the next, attempting to rack up achievements & pleasures. I took the megabus up to New York City this week, and was looking forward to sleeping on the 3.5 hour ride after my 5am wakeup call to catch the bus. Life had other plans. Instead, I made a friend and launched a people-centric photo project that I would carry through my 3 days in NYC.

Meet Maddie. An NYC acting student, this girl is a wise soul. Bubbly and sweet, yet deep and brooding inside she acts, writes, and prefers to do a character study over going out with friends. The way she approaches life mirrors how she writes: as a wise observer, constantly thinking about deeper things. I couldn't have guessed that I'd meet such a soul sister on the bus.

Some one-liners from Maddie:

"I'm just spitting out words from my soul" -- on incoherent sentences. AMEN SISTA. Be true.

"I don't have a plan B. I know that's crazy to some people" -- on doing acting and theatre so matter what. Follow your passion. Acting is a part of her- if she's not doing it, she's not being her. It's an expression of herself.

"I'm just so passionate about acting- it's what I live and breathe. It's all I wanna do"

Maddie, thanks for sharing with me. Thanks for our vulnerable talk. My wish for you is perseverance through the sea of finding your way. Just keep following that shining light that's mirrored in your heart. Be true to yourself and your craft, love others, and honor whatever power you may (God, the universe, ect).

Yesterday was a wonderful day! My goal this summer has been to photograph more weddings so that I can start shooting weddings on my own. A year and a half ago I photographed engagement photos for my close friend's older sister, Melissa, and her fiancee Jameson who also attended our high school. Melissa and I played in the orchestra together, where I admired her status as first chair violin. Jameson was in the band. It was an honor to be asked to take their photos. Fast forward a year and a half and here I am, shooting their wedding. This day exceeded any expectation I may have had. The love between Melissa and her sister Michelle, as evidenced by the tears during the toast, or the way Jameson obviously adores Melissa in the way he was smiling all day, warmed my heart. It was even more special that I knew the family, and was able to reconnect with Melissa's parents as well as meet the rest of the clan.
To the Etchisons and McCartys, thank you for a beautiful day!

About Me

Welcome to the official blog for Kylie Nic Photography. Here is where you can keep up with who i'm shooting, where i'm shooting, what's going on in my life, and all of my latest work. Hope to see you back here soon!